Category Archives: Biking

Cycle chic, kind of

So there’s this whole “cycle chic” thing, basically the idea that you should look stylish while riding a bike.  Beautiful people, riding around on bicycles, laid-back and having fun, what’s not to like?

I’ve long been a fan of Girls and Bicycles, a blog that embraces the cycle chic ethos.  I love reading about Sarah’s adventures up in Canada.

The problem?  It’s a lovely idea, in theory, but in practice, it doesn’t really work out for me.

For starters, I do not consider myself particularly stylish, nor is that necessarily an aspiration of mine.  If I don’t wear heels, or other cute, toe-smashing, unsupportive shoes to start with, why would I put them on just to ride my bike?  My footwear is certainly not chic, and the ankles on up aren’t much better.

The cycle chic movement emphasizes “style over speed,” which is another issue for me.  I see my bike as an efficient (and fun) way to get from Point A to Point B.  I like to ride fast.  My cycling shoes help me do that, as does my bicycle style.

The Cycle Chic Manifesto includes the following [ridiculous] guideline:

“I will endeavor to ensure that the total value of my clothes always exceeds that of my bicycle.”

Excuse me?  Perhaps the total value of ALL the clothes in my wardrobe exceeds the value of my bicycle, but a single outfit?  Not close, nor do I ever aspire to wear a $900 ensemble.  (And if I had such a thing, would I really wear it on my bicycle — the thing with dirt and grease on it?  Please.)

But the fact that I’m writing about this indicates that there is at least some tiny part of me that admires these chic cyclists, that wishes I could be one of them.  And so I bring you my attempt at chic cycling from the Festival of Nations this weekend.

Perhaps more Sporty Spice than cycle chic?

Farmhaus, a review

On Thursday night, after a week of wrangling middle schoolers on bicycles in increasingly hot temperatures, I mustered the will to hop back on the bike for a dinner date.  We were torn between Stellina Pasta Cafe (an old favorite) or Farmhaus (something new).  I’d read a couple of good reviews about Farmhaus, so it was on my list of places to try.

Matthew voted for Stellina, and I was too tired to care much one way or the other, so we biked there, only to find a thirty minute wait (not outrageous, but it was already 7:30pm and we were HUNGRY).  Fortunately, Farmhaus was only a few blocks away, so we decided to try our luck there.

We walked in the door and were immediately hit by the strong fishy smell (the seafood is the main component of their menu that is NOT local).  We exchanged a look.  Ultimately, they had a table and a menu with some nice vegetarian options, so we stayed.

We choose between three or four salads that all sounded fabulous, settling on the marinated vegetable salad (not sure that’s the exact name).

It arrived in a canning jar — fun! For ease of eating we dumped it out on the plate.  A flavorful and fresh start to our meal, the corn melted in my mouth, buttery and sweet, a nice compliment to the other veggies.

By this point, after the initial wall of odor and adjustment period,  our olfactory systems became desensitized to the fishy smell.

Next up, sweet potato nachos.  These were only so-so.  To be fair, we made some changes to this dish.  We ordered it without bacon and subbed goat cheese for the blue cheese because someone doesn’t like blue cheese.  They came with some kind of a house-made catsup.  Our homemade catsup beats Farmhaus’, no contest.

We discovered a new wine, a “sweet” shiraz (Jam Jar, S. Africa) that was basically a perfect red wine for us.  Not really “sweet” in our book, but definitely not dry — a perfect dinner accompaniment.

For our entree, we shared the vegetarian succotash, tomatillos, grilled okra, corn, and peppers, served over spoon bread.  Mmm, spoon bread — my first, but definitely not my last, encounter with this food.  We ate this and were very sad that we couldn’t lick up the last bits in the bowl 😦  In some cultures, that’s considered very polite.

I don’t have a dessert pic, but we ordered a peach and ricotta pastry.  The pastry was light and flaky, with a generous amount of fresh, local peaches, served hot out of the oven with peach sorbet on top to cool things off.

We chatted with our waiter about local biking options and headed home after a delicious dinner adventure, both glad we ended up at Farmhaus.

Ha ha, universe

Due to some scheduling issues, my bike/carpool situation disappeared for two weeks.  Yesterday, we were on again, and the heat did not lessen my excitement.  A couple of blocks into my morning ride, I realized that I left my flat repair kit and pump at home (the hazard of riding two bikes and switching those items back and forth).  BUB and Baby Jake have different size wheels, so I did have a spare tube, and I opted to keep going instead of returning for the repair kit and pump, given the short (2 mile) distance to my coworker’s house.

Later in the day . . .

I returned to BUB after work, loaded up my bags in the high-class carrying device, started to wheel my bike out of the yard, and realized that my rear tire was completely flat.  And me without the repair kit and pump — brilliant!

I quickly realized that half-carrying the bike (I didn’t want to damage the bike tire or the wheel by rolling it on the flat) for 2 miles in 100-degree heat was not a recipe for having a good night, and so I called SAG support.  My one day of not using my car to get to work was going to end with the car after all 😦

But not all was lost — Matthew offered to bike over with a pump and repair kit.  My knight in sweaty clothing arrived in minutes, and we quickly changed the tube and headed home at last.

The culprit

I didn’t need a sink full of water to find this guy; it jumped right out at me when I inspected the tube this morning.  I patched it up, and I’ll go ahead and swap the repaired tube for the brand new one that I put in last night so I can have the new one as a back-up again.

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Green tip: If you have an inner tube that’s beyond repair, or one that has multiple patches and really has seen better days, check with your local bike shop about recycling options.  Many bike shops will take old tubes and tires for recycling.

Don’t get caught flat

Sunday, I participated in a group bike ride, riding just for the heck of riding, not riding to get somewhere, a rare thing for me.  At the farthest point from the ride start/end point, someone in our group got a flat.  Not me (that would have actually been better).

I pulled up next to the hobbled bicycle with great intentions of quickly remedying things, only to find out that the rider didn’t have a spare tube.  My spare tube was the wrong size (and wrong valve type) and the only other spare tube in the group was also the wrong size.  No big deal, I had a patch kit.

(As you will see below, unless you get lucky and find an obvious puncture-causing agent in the tire and the corresponding puncture in the tube, a patch repair kit will do relatively little good on the road.  There’s a good chance you’ll need access to a sink full of water to identify the hole in the tube.)

I whipped out my flat repair kit, we removed the wheel, and I inspected the outside for offending objects.  Finding none, I removed the tube and inspected it.  No great, huge, obvious gashes to patch, just this area of roughness and wear that I thought may have indicated a pinch flat (what you get if you ride on under-inflated tires).  I proceeded to apply three patches to cover the entire suspicious area.

Long story short, we rode a bit farther, and the tire went flat again.  At this point, getting closer to the end, we switched to the “add more air and keep riding” approach.  Either my [hastily applied] patches didn’t hold, or I misidentified the problem.

Moral of the story?  Whether you’re a novice or professional biker, if you only carry one repair-related thing on you when you ride, carry an extra tube (of the proper size).  Even if you’re not carrying tire levers and a pump, with a properly-sized spare tube you at least stand a chance of someone else being able to help (more likely if you’re riding in an area with lots of other bikers).  If you ride in areas where you rarely see other bikers, or you just want to be prepared (a good idea), invest in a decent hand pump ($30-$40, get one with an inline pressure gauge), tire levers ($3), and a patch repair kit ($3).

Also.  Check your tire pressure and keep your tires properly inflated (see sidewall of tire for pressure range for your bike).  Bicycle tubes naturally lose air very quickly, so it’s a good idea to check, and most likely add air, once a week (or before every ride if you ride less frequently).

Clothing optional?

St. Louis boasts a multitude of outdoor entertainment in the summer, most of which is free.  We favor the Whitaker Music Festival at the Botanical Garden and The Muny free seats.

Last week, we ventured out to our first Muny show of the season, The Sound of Music.  The first few shows really didn’t appeal to me this year, and, though I wanted to see Cats, that week ended up being pretty busy and it just didn’t happen.

I insisted on biking, despite the fact that it made a late night even later.  The actual time difference between biking and driving there is pretty minimal for us, but I know the biking will leave me too keyed up to fall asleep immediately.  Ah well, we enjoyed the show, and riding home under a full moon was worth it.  It’s hard to properly enjoy the night sky from inside a car.

Anyhow, we scored some good tickets to Footloose tonight.  Actual tickets, not free seats!  The only problem?  101 degrees.  Actual temperature.  Add in heat index, and we’re looking at 110+.  Does The Muny have a policy against nudity?